Teaching Issue
Volume 14, Number 1 / February 2014
Letter from the Editors
Winds of Change
Dear Friends,
Greetings! We want to remind everyone of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s recent request for all of us to recite the long-life mantra for H.E. Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche. More Please join in reciting and accumulating mantras, and reporting them as listed on the website.
Learn more
The Tibetan New Year begins March 2 – the year of the Horse. Happy Losar everyone! The Tibetan New Year begins March 2 – the year of the Horse. Happy Losar everyone! Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will offer a free live webcast March 2 from 1–2:30 p.m. Eastern (New York) time on "Raising Your Windhorse: Good Fortune for the New Year." Read the article about all of Rinpoche's upcoming webcasts in this issue.
In preparing for the New Year, we work to clear obstacles and resolve issues to make way for growth and new openness needed to face the challenges ahead. In this issue, we offer an excerpt from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s teachings on the power of wisdom wind, the prana of our awareness, the true means for liberating pain. Enjoy this clear, refreshing and helpful teaching!
The focus of Rinpoche’s three-day Spring Retreat at Serenity Ridge is Winds of Change: Discovering the Healing Power of Mind and Prana. See below for all the details. And, announcing that the Summer Retreat registration is open now. Plan ahead for your retreats!
Also featured in this issue: “Nurturing Sacred Community,” an overview of Rinpoche’s latest webcast; a request for summer auction donations for Ligmincha’s June fundraising auction; invitation and schedule for upcoming Taste of The Three Doors seminars; a report on the success of Ligmincha’s end-of-year fundraising campaign and plans for improvement; Ligmincha’s Annual Report for fiscal year 2013; Ligmincha's internship program: looking for new recruits; an article about Ligmincha’s first silent retreat; and links to the latest Spanish translation of VOCL, as well as the winter issue of Ligmincha Europe Magazine.
This issue ischock full of gems – enjoy!
In Bon,
Aline and Jeff Fisher
'Shining Through with the Light of Awareness'
Edited Excerpt from Transcript of Oral Teachings on ‘Tibetan Yogas of Body, Speech, and Mind' Given by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, February 2012|
Photograph by Maria Aurelia Kulik
When you are conscious, that consciousness, that awareness, has a wind. Literally, it's like a wind, what we call prana. Energy moves through that, and when there's awareness More, there's actually a wind there. The wind of the awareness is called wisdom wind. That wind clears the darkness. So wisdom wind basically means the energy that flows by one’s knowing something. It takes time to understand that concept and to become familiar with the practice. For example, what we are trying to do here, when we take refuge, is to enter through that stillness, silence and spaciousness, trying to find that unbounded space, infinite awareness and genuine warmth.
When we find that deep inside, rest a little bit in that, then it gives some sense of that spaciousness, that awareness, some strength to be able to face and to look at some of the pain. If the pain comes at the wrong time, hosting it doesn't work. If it comes at a right time, it works. So it's a question of preparing to host that pain. Sometimes, when one is ready, it's a fantastic experience of releasing, clearing and feeling that warmth. When one is not stable enough, it's challenging. That's what it seems is happening here at the retreat. Some of you are feeling more subtly into that inner refuge to face things. Others are not feeling so much subtlety there, so when the pain arises, you are encountering more of a challenge.
So the point is, who is encountering the challenge? If it's clear, the one who is finding the challenge won't be there. So when we speak of clearing something, it's because it's not clear. One has not rested enough and hasn't found that unbounded space. One has not recognized enough. So it's like when we pray, we are trying to recognize that mother, like the child recognizes that mother. I think that metaphor is very important. Or like somebody who lost their home and finds their home again. It's very comforting, right? But you don't know how comforting home is until you’ve lost your home. That sense of being home is a beautiful experience in meditation.
Sometimes people really enjoy doing practice, and sometimes people put effort into doing practice. It's so important, though, to try to find that sense of warmth and bliss in the practice. It could be addictive, in a good way. If you have 15 or 30 minutes, you want to do that, you want to be in that space where there is that experience of recognition, like a child finding their mother, a lost person finding a home. How is it not possible to enjoy that? To feel that sense of peace and fullness is the recognition.
Of course, there's always this point of one's ability to break through that grasping mind, which is not the right mind. When we use the term light, when we say touch the pain with light, we're not talking about that grasping mind; we're talking about the awareness. Sometimes I use these metaphors and expressions just to make some understanding, but touch does not mean physical touch. Touch means awareness; that naked awareness is seeing the truth. What is the truth? Truth means there is no pain there. Pain is created by the one who is grasping it. As long as that grasping mind is there, that mind always sees that pain. When that mind is free, there is no pain. The grasping mind has created that. So touching with light means the naked awareness is seeing the pain.
When it sees the pain, there is no pain, or the pain is dissolved. Not when the grasping mind sees it, though. It's the same as if you look at a very negative person who is looking at one thing and a very positive person looking at the same thing. They are looking at the same thing, but the very positive person doesn’t see all those problems. A negative person sees all those problems. So the negative person is that grasping mind; it sees those pains. The positive person is that awareness; it's not seeing any pain there, or if it's seeing, then it is allowing in that space rather than holding on to it.
Sometimes I use language in a more traditional way, with certain expressions which have come down through thousands of years. One of the expressions is, "Nakedly seeing, nakedly liberating." “Cher ta, cher troll” is the Tibetan expression. Cher means naked, ta means look. Cher again means naked, troll means liberating, liberation. So "Nakedly seeing, nakedly liberating" is the literal translation. That has a great meaning – a great meaning. What it means is when the wisdom eye sees the pain, the pain liberates. If pain is looking at pain, pain does not liberate.
Most of the time what we are doing is, our pain is looking at that pain. Even sometimes when we say host, your one pain is trying to host another pain. That is what we do. Sometimes when we are in groups, we have a group pain. That is what is happening. People have some kind of belief in something higher than themselves, or something higher than their problem, but they don’t know exactly what that is. There are no specific practices, but there’s some kind of sense of awake, belief or trust. That sense of something higher is the main key the group is getting help from, and individuals are getting help from that. But when you have a clear sense of what that is, it's far better. And what that is, is that unbounded, sacred space. What that is, is that naked awareness. The naked awareness is able to look at that.
(This excerpt is taken from the transcript “The Tibetan Yogas of Body, Speech, and Mind,” oral teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche in Pacific Palisades, Calif., Feb. 10–12, 2012. The transcript is available at Ligmincha’s Bookstore & Tibet Shop)
Free Live Webcasts with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Good Fortune for the Tibetan New Year, Calm Abiding Meditation and More
Don’t miss the following upcoming webcasts with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche! Except as noted, you can participate in any of these free events by visiting the live-broadcast page on the Ligmincha Institute website. More
March 2, 2014 (Sunday), 1–2:30 p.m. Eastern Time U.S. (New York time)
Raising Your Windhorse—Good Fortune for the New Year
On March 2, Tenzin Rinpoche will mark the start of the Tibetan New Year (Losar) by explaining the traditional Tibetan practice of raising one’s personal power and good fortune, or lung-ta.
Learn more
March 9, 2014 (Sunday), 1–2:30 Eastern Time U.S.
Calming Your Mind with Meditation
The practice of Calm Abiding (Zhiné) is considered the foundation for developing and mastering all other, higher meditation practices in Tibetan Bon Buddhism. In this live webcast Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will give instructions for three forms of Zhiné (forceful, natural,and ultimate) and explain how to deal with obstacles to your practice.
Learn more
April 9, 2014 (Wednesday), 7–8:30 p.m. Eastern Time U.S.
Awakening the Luminous Mind
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche gives dzogchen teachings based on his book Awakening the Luminous Mind: Tibetan Meditation for Inner Peace and Joy. Broadcast live from Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville in Buckingham, Virginia.
Learn more
Note: This webcast can be viewed here.
April 12, 2014 (Saturday), 3–4:30 p.m. Eastern Time U.S.
Winds of Change: Discovering the Healing Power of Mind and Prana
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche broadcasts live from the annual Spring Retreat at Ligmincha’s Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Nelson County, Virginia (not a public talk).
Learn more
May 4, 2014 (Sunday), 1–2:30 p.m. Eastern Time U.S.
The Student-Teacher Relationship
In this live webcast, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche offers do’s and don’ts for cultivating a fruitful master-student relationship in Tibetan Buddhism.
June 8, 2014 (Sunday), 1–2:30 p.m. Eastern Time U.S.
Shifting Your Pain Identity
Learn how to tap into your own inherent love and wisdom and transform your world with the Sherap Chamma practice. Teaching and guided meditation with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.
Learn more
View the live webcasts
Spring Retreat: April 11–13, 2014
Winds of Change: Discovering the Healing Power of Mind and Prana
During this three-day retreat at Ligmincha Institute’s Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, participants will explore methods to heal physical and emotional pain by discovering the power of the open awareness of mind. Both new and experienced students of meditation are invited to join this special retreat!
Learn more and register
Registration Open for Summer Retreat at Serenity Ridge
'The Twenty One Nails, Part 2' Open to All
Everyone is warmly invited to attend this summer’s retreat on the topic of “The Twenty-One Nails, Part 2.” The retreat is set for June 22–July 12, 2014 and is among the innermost secret cycles of Tibetan Bon Buddhist dzogchen, directly cutting through doubts about one’s natural state. Join us for one, two or all three weeks. No prerequisites are required.
Learn more and register
A Message for the Sangha
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche Explains How to ‘Nurture Sacred Community’
Photograph by Maria Aurelia Kulik
On Dec. 29, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche gave a special live webcast directed specifically to the sangha, the community of spiritual practitioners. The recorded webcast More, “Nurturing Sacred Community,” can be viewed in its entirety here.
As Rinpoche explained to his viewers, there is nowhere you can go on earth where you will not find conflict or tension, and this is true even of spiritual communities. His message: Building a spiritual community requires openness to others’ opinions, awareness of the challenges others are facing and the ability to take actions from a space of warmth.
These universal principles are commonly practiced in the teaching hall, Rinpoche pointed out; but they also need to be brought into the office of the spiritual center. Especially during interpersonal challenges, taking just a moment to connect with the stillness of the body, silence of the speech and spaciousness of the mind can help all members of the community act with more openness, clarity and warmth.
Rinpoche also discussed the importance of:
- Knowing when to step back from helping in the spiritual community while giving space for others to step in.
- Being aware of your own “pain speech”—one of the biggest obstacles to building a spiritual community. Are your words spreading harmony or disharmony?
- Not turning personal problems into group problems—or, vice versa: allowing group conflicts to affect your personal commitment to the practice and the tradition.
- Maintaining an attitude of service toward the spiritual community—“This is not about me, it’s about my being here to serve.”
Approximately 440 computers worldwide viewed the Dec. 29 live webcast, which was translated in real time into as many as 12 languages. Ligmincha International, the organization of spiritual communities founded by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, is composed of a wide range of local sanghas, practice groups and retreat centers. In many cases, groups of members and friends were gathered around a single computer—for example, 14 people met in Málaga, Spain, to view the broadcast.
Based on chat-log sharings by participants, countries represented included Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, U.S.A. and the United Kingdom.
As with nearly all of Ligmincha’s offerings, volunteers play a major role in Rinpoche’s live webcasts. Contributing volunteers include international webcast coordinator Lourdes Hinojosa and webcast producer Polly Turner. Volunteer translators include:
Blanca Liane (Portuguese)
Brita Carmen Sommer (Danish)
iLker Bekarslan (Turkish)
Jahrek Kotas (Polish)
Jozef Szmuda (Czech)
Katalin Jacob (Hungarian)
Lidia Castellano (Italian)
Lourdes Hinojosa (Spanish)
Mai Linh Leminhbach (French)
Mangalananda Giri (German)
Nathalie Duchanois (French)
Olli Erjanti (Finnish)
Pavel Kuzmin (Russian)
Vagid Ragimov (Russian)
Ligmincha International’s coordinators also play an ongoing role in promoting live webcasts and hosting group events. These coordinators include:
Alejandro Chaoul-Reich (U.S.)
Alejandro Torrealba (Spain)
Anna-Kaisa Hirvanen (Finland)
Beatriz Helena Vega (Colombia)
Begoña García (Spain)
Blanca Liane (Brazil)
Bob Anger (U.S.)
Elena Ochoa (Mexico)
Emanuel Amador Muñoz (Costa Rica)
Frank Jeri (Peru)
Hanna Stegmüller (Austria)
Heide Mitsche (Austria)
iLker Bekarslan (Turkey)
Johan Smith (Denmark)
John Jackson (U.S.)
José Ignacio Acosta (Spain)
Jozef Szmuda (Czech Republic)
Katalin Jacob (Hungary)
Lidia Castellano (Italy)
Mauricio Fredes (Chile)
Nathalie Duchanois (France)
Oliver Wirtz (Germany)
Pavel Kuzmin (Russia)
Ryszart Adamiak (Poland)
Zeyno Agyen (Turkey)
Locate the Ligmincha center or sangha nearest you
View the full Dec. 29 webcast, “Nurturing Sacred Community” (78 min.)
To view recordings of all of Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s free live webcasts go to the Internet Teachings page of the Ligmincha International website.
Please Donate Items to 2014 Summer Fundraising Auction
See How You Can Help Ligmincha
As we begin planning for our 2014 Summer Retreat, we are looking forward to the annual summer fundraising auction, celebrated each year during the retreat. The auction, to be held this year on Friday, June 27, 2014, is an important public fundraising event for Ligmincha Institute More and is essential to furthering Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s vision for Ligmincha Institute at Serenity Ridge.
Please help by donating auction items. We are seeking quality practice-related or shrine-related items that can inspire or deepen our practice. Here are some examples of items that have helped generate lively bidding in the past:
- Crystal objects: stupas, crystal balls, malas, phurbas
- Tibetan singing bowls and drums, large or small
- Tibetan or English texts that have been used by our teachers
- Silver or gold gaus (Tibetan locket for sacred objects) or amulets
- Malas made from precious or semi-precious stones
- Photos of our teachers or of sacred sites
- Thangkas, prayer banners
- Items blessed by His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche, Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche or Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Funds raised from the auction will be used to help continue the development of Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, the headquarters of Ligmincha International.
Your enthusiastic participation and support are essential at this important time of growth. All donations are tax deductible.
Please email the
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or mail your donated items to:
Ligmincha Institute at Serenity Ridge
554 Drumheller Lane
Shipman, VA 22971
If you are unable attend the auction in person and would like to make a donation, click here.
Consider the Three Doors Academy
Attend Taste of Three Doors Weekend Seminar to Find Out More
The Three Doors is pleased to announce the next U.S. Academy will begin in the Spring of 2015. The U.S.-3 Academy will be presented by Marcy Vaughn and Gabriel Rocco. The Three Doors Academies are designed to support personal transformation through contemplation and meditation More represented in six 6-day retreats held twice a year. Additional support includes a personal mentor relationship, monthly group conference calls and individual retreats. A maximum of 40 people will be accepted for the US-3 Academy, which has rolling admissions. The retreat will be held at Serenity Ridge meditation center in Shipman, Virginia.
We would also like to announce that the next European Academy will begin in summer 2015. Presented by John Jackson and Raven Lee, the first Group Training Retreat will be held June 7–13, 2015 and the second Group Training Retreat will be held Nov. 8–14, 2015. More details will be forthcoming. If you would like to receive further information about the Academy Program or to begin the application process, please contact
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.
The Three Doors has scheduled several spring events listed below.
March 15–16, 2014
Taste of The Three Doors - Portland, Maine USA
Presented by Marcy Vaughn
March 15–16, 2014
Taste of The Three Doors - Dortmund, Germany
Presented by John Jackson
March 22–23, 2014
Awakening Authentic Presence - Meditations with Sound and Silence
Boulder, CO USA
Presented by Marcy Vaughn
April 5–6, 2014
Taste of The Three Doors - Hilversum, Netherlands
Presented by Dr. Raven Lee
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| Marcy Vaughn | Gabriel Rocco | John Jackson | Raven Lee |
For further information on any of these events, please refer to the Three Doors website
End-of-Year Fundraising Campaign
Successful Campaign Raises Funds for Improvements at Serenity Ridge
Ligmincha Institute is thrilled to announce the results of the end-of-year fundraising campaign. Generous contributions from sangha members and friends near and far resulted in raising $23,000, with a net income of $20,530 after fundraising expenses. More
The money from this campaign will be specifically allocated to the following improvements at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center:
- Improvements to the six private rooms opposite the gompa, including new paint in all the rooms, new fixtures in the bathrooms, new bedding, new door curtains and new flooring.
- Improvements to the bunk bed rooms, including fresh paint and new bedspreads, new flooring treatment and new area rugs.
- Fresh paint for the first floor lounge by the women's dorm.
We are pleased to be able to make these improvements and very grateful to all of you who contributed. This funding will keep Ligmincha staff and volunteers busy over the winter and spring with improvements and updates. The goal is to have this work done in time for Summer Retreat.
Ligmincha’s Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2013
Read About Ligmincha Finances and Much More
Ligmincha Institute has published its Annual Report for fiscal year 2013. Read about what has been happening during fiscal year 2013 (Oct. 1, 2012 through Sept. 30, 2013) at Serenity Ridge, internationally and online, and view a report of Ligmincha’s finances. You also can learn what Ligmincha Council members have been doing, read a special message from Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and view photos from His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima’s visit to Serenity Ridge during the 2013 Summer Retreat.
2013 Ligmincha Institute Annual Report
Ligmincha's Internship Program at Serenity Ridge
Looking for New Recruits to Start in May
Over the last couple of years, Serenity Ridge Retreat Center has been home to a small group of interns who have been a tremendous help to the day-to-day functioning of the center and retreats. Ligmincha is now expanding its internship program and recruiting new interns to work onsite at Serenity Ridge. More
The internship program is fairly new for Serenity Ridge, and it has been beneficial in many ways. It provides interns the opportunity to deepen their practice in a contemplative environment and to learn and grow through attending Serenity Ridge retreats. It provides sangha members and those new to Serenity Ridge with onsite support and a resident community. Interns also fill important roles at the retreat center in areas such as program coordination, facilities and grounds maintenance, administration and fundraising.
Ligmincha is in the process of formalizing the program and is excited to announce that new interns will be recruited to start in May 2014. A description of the program and the application process will soon be available on the Serenity Ridge website.
Because of the nature of the work and living arrangements, preference is for candidates who have attended a retreat with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche at Serenity Ridge or at another location, and who have a sincere interest in learning about and practicing in the Tibetan Bon Buddhist tradition.
Particular skills that are beneficial include:
• Program coordination
• Graphic design
• Marketing and communications
• Office and administrative support
• Housekeeping
• Maintenance and carpentry
• Groundskeeping and landscaping
• Fundraising
• Kitchen support
• Bookstore support
• Data entry and analysis
• Audio visual support
If you would like to learn more about this program, please email the
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. You will be notified when the application and program details become available.
Ligmincha’s First Silent Retreat
A Positive Experience for All
Afternoon practice at Winter Retreat had ended a few minutes early, and everyone was lined up in the dining hall patiently awaiting the evening meal. One of the cooks came out of the kitchen to pronounce dinner ready, and she reminded everyone that one of the containers of mashed potatoes was for "vegans only, please." Everyone in the room heard her easily, because no one else was talking. More
This winter, for the first time at Serenity Ridge, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche led a silent retreat. From the morning of Dec. 27 until New Year's Day, the 93 participants at the Winter Retreat were asked not to speak unless absolutely necessary.
"My feeling is that's it's going very well," said Rinpoche on the next-to-last day of the retreat. "It's hard to tell exactly because everybody is in silence! But it looks like it's going well."
It was a sentiment that seemed to be largely shared by retreat participants, whose responses to a retreat survey indicated a 94 percent satisfaction rate. “I can't tell you how much I benefited,” commented one participant.
Retreat participant John Swift echoed this sentiment. He said Rinpoche's teachings differed from other silent retreats he had attended in various Buddhist traditions. "The instruction I had received before was much simpler: come back to silence, come back to sensation," he said. Describing Rinpoche's way of teaching as "more thorough," Swift noted, “It makes possible right speech, right thought, right attention. There’s much more ground for that.”
Commenting on silent retreats in general, Rinpoche explained, "Sometime it looks wonderful; other times it looks kind of heavy—a little blocked and full of effort. If a person is not prepared well, silent practice can be difficult, but if a person is prepared well, silence is a very, very beautiful practice."
Rinpoche said the Winter Retreat was chosen as the first silent retreat because he believed many experienced students who had completed the five-year teaching cycle of the Experiential Transmission of the Zhang Zhung the previous winter would be returning. He also said there will "absolutely" be more silent retreats at Serenity Ridge. "We are going to figure out how to do it every year," he noted.
Planning has begun to incorporate silence into the three weeks of the 2014 Summer Retreat, with periods of silence during part of each week. Other future retreats also will incorporate silence. Comments and suggestions from this winter’s end-of-retreat survey will be considered to help make future silence during retreats even more successful.
This article was written by Matthew Conover, an intern at Serenity Ridge.
Buddhism and the West – Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
New YouTube Video Interview
In this interview with Guido Ferrari, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche clarifies essential principles of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon and explains his approach to teaching in the West. 25 minutes.
View video
Latest Spanish Translation of VOCL
View December Issue
View Spanish translation of the December 2013 issue of Voice of Clear Light.
See Ligmincha Europe Magazine’s Winter Issue
Also Special Edition Reports on the Inauguration of the Gompa in Poland
The Winter 2013-2014 issue of Ligmincha Europe Magazine is now available. Included in this issue are articles about the historic first meeting of Tibetan Bon lamas who live and teach in the West, and last fall's successful Buddhism and Science Conference, both held at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center.
Ligmincha Europe Magazine also has published a special edition on Consecration of the Gompa in Wilga, Poland, with many wonderful images.
GlideWing Workshop Begins March 8
‘Awakening the Sacred Arts: Discovering Your Creative Potential’
The next GlideWing online workshop with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, “Awakening the Sacred Arts,” will be held March 8–April 6, 2014. Learn and practice from your own home, at your own schedule, with personal guidance. Participants will explore how to recognize and clear physical, energetic and mental obstacles; connect with and trust their innate creative potential; and discover the inner strength and confidence that can allow their creativity to naturally blossom.
Learn more and view introductory video
Register
Upcoming Events
Ligmincha’s Serenity Ridge Retreat Center
The retreats described below will take place at Serenity Ridge, Ligmincha Institute’s retreat center in Nelson County, Va. To register or for more information, click on the links below, or contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 434-263-6304.
April 11-13, 2014
Spring Retreat—Winds of Change: Discovering the Healing Power of Mind and Prana
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Learn more and register
May 3-4, 2014
Awakening the Sacred Body
with John Jackson
Registration opens Feb. 18.
Learn more
May 21-25, 2014
Divination in the Bon Buddhist Tradition
with Geshe Nyima Kunchap
Learn more and register
June 22-July 12, 2014
Summer Retreat—The Twenty-One Nails, Part 2
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
This teaching is among the innermost secret cycles of Tibetan Bon Buddhist dzogchen, directly cutting through doubts about one's natural state by tracing the nature of mind back to its source. Join us for one, two or three weeks! All are welcome.
Learn more and register
Oct. 7-9, 2014
Special Conference—New Dialogs Between Buddhism and Science
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Renowned Researchers
Oct. 10-12, 2014
Fall Retreat—The Healing Power of Primordial Awareness
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2014
Special Retreat—Topic TBA
with H.E. Menri Lopon Trinley Nyima Rinpoche
Dec. 27, 2014-Jan. 1, 2015
Winter Retreat—The Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung, Part 1: Ngondro
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
This is the first in a five-part series—to be held over the next five years—of special Bon Buddhist dzogchen teachings based on the ancient Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyu texts. Part 1: Ngondro is a prerequisite for further study of the Experiential Transmission series. Registration opens March 26.
View all 2014 retreats. To register for any of the above retreats, or for more information about teachings in the Bon Buddhist tradition of Tibet, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 434-263-6304, or visit the Serenity Ridge website or the Ligmincha Institute website.
